UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi everyone, I'm an immigrant who moved to London two years ago for work. When I first arrived, securing an apartment was a nightmare due to the high rent, but eventually, I found a place managed by a Build-to-Rent (BTR) company.

Since I was new here, the company required me to pay 6 months' rent upfront + 6 months' utilities upfront to secure the tenancy. They had a system where we paid £110/month for utilities regardless of actual usage, with quarterly reconciliations to pay any excess. In our case, we always paid £660 (6 months' worth) in advance.

Fast forward a year, and we renewed the tenancy under the same terms – still paying rent and utilities every 6 months upfront. However, two weeks after signing, we were informed that our building had been sold to another BTR company (let's call it Company B).

At first, everything seemed to operate as usual, but a month later, Company B announced a change to the utilities setup. Instead of paying utilities to the BTR company, we had to set up a direct debit with the energy provider. Provider started charging us £150/month, with no more quarterly reconciliations. This is apparently standard practice, but here's the problem:

What happens to the utilities payment we made upfront?

We raised this issue with Company B in Feb, as we had already started paying the energy provider directly. They initially told us to set up the direct debit and that they would "get back to us" about the upfront payment. Since then, they've been avoiding the topic:

- Ignoring our emails.
- Responding vaguely, saying they're "looking into it."
- Asking us for more and more details (which we've provided).
- Claiming it's "processing," but then ghosting us again.

We're now approaching the end of our tenancy next month, and I'm very worried that we'll never get this money back. A neighbor of ours who had a similar issue moved out six months ago, and they're still fighting to get their upfront payment refunded. The company has been ghosting them, too.

The last email I sent was two months ago. They replied that they were processing the refund, but a week later, they asked for proof of our payments to the energy provider. After providing all the necessary documents, they went silent again.

What can I do to ensure I get my upfront utilities payment back?
Has anyone else dealt with a similar issue with BTR companies? Any advice on how to escalate this would be greatly appreciated.

Did you ever get the utility bills to show your actual usage?  Assuming that upfront payment covered the first 6 months, how did things stand when that time ended, were you in debit or credit?

I would suggest that if they don't repay what they owe, you suggest that the money that they took was actually a deposit (which I think it was) and that you might sue them for it.

That's quite a difficult thing to understand, and I wouldn't blame you for not bothering, but it's probably what I'd do.

Quote from: heavykarma on January 05, 2025, 05:03:32 PMDid you ever get the utility bills to show your actual usage?  Assuming that upfront payment covered the first 6 months, how did things stand when that time ended, were you in debit or credit?

Yes, we do receive the actual usage details. Supposedly, the upfront payment was intended to cover the first six months. However, at the beginning of the tenancy, everyone was asked to set up a direct debit with the supplier so they collect the money directly from our bank account. Since then, we have been paying our bills monthly from the start. As a result, the upfront payment has never been used to cover any of our bills even from the beginning,  and remains locked in their bank account.

Quote from: jpkeates on January 05, 2025, 05:29:53 PMI would suggest that if they don't repay what they owe, you suggest that the money that they took was actually a deposit (which I think it was) and that you might sue them for it.

That's quite a difficult thing to understand, and I wouldn't blame you for not bothering, but it's probably what I'd do.

i think in the original purpose its never meant to return to us like a deposit? so im not sure how eaiser to make this a actually legal case?
I've read some article said its possible to make formal complaint through TPOS, i dont know how much useful it is, and im not sure how complicate it is to bring this to a court case.. no experience about that. 

I'm not sure it would be easy either, but it's something to consider threatening the company with.

Legally, a ""tenancy deposit", in relation to a shorthold tenancy, means any money intended to be held (by the landlord or otherwise) as security for (a)
the performance of any obligations of the tenant, or (b) the discharge of any liability of his, arising under or in connection with the tenancy."

Taking an amount of money in advance to be used to settle future utility bills seems to meet that definition pretty much exactly.

However, your best course of action might be to end the tenancy as planned. In the meantime calculate exactly how much you are owed. Once the tenancy is over and there's no risk that the company can retaliate, send a "letter before action" demanding the repayment of what they owe you, breaking down how you arrived at the amount and threatening legal action if the money isn't received by you after (say) three weeks or a month.

If they don't pay, use the Money Claim Online service and make a legal claim for the money owed (plus the cost of making the claim).